My name is Alex Rolland. When I was a toddler, I watched my parents get murdered by a man in a hood. I was then kidnapped and smuggled to the USSR, where I was made into someone else … into something else. Now I am back to Nigeria to avenge all those who have suffered, like me, at the hands of cruel, corrupt politicians. I am … The Nivenger!

Episode 2

Masha walked straight to Alex and handed him the sword, her face devoid of any emotion. Alex felt his heart relax. He wasn’t dying today.

Masha looked at the duo. They both recognized her.

“Why do you interfere?” spat Charybdis.

“Because Alex has the protection of the Russian Government which is responsible for your creation. You swore fealty to the Russian Government. You will not harm Alex.”

Scylla spat on the ground. “We no longer serve the Russian Government. We serve our own.”

Masha sighed. She lifted her blade and glanced at Alex. “Let’s finish what you started the last time. Let’s kill them here and now. End the legend of the twins…”

“No,” said Charybdis, lowering her crossbow. “It doesn’t have to end this way.”

Masha said, “Look, I have no love for you guys. But I also recognize the great things you’ve done for our government. I am willing to let you guys live but on one condition. You will tell us how to get to the Cabal, and you will not attack Alex again, not now, not ever.”

Charybdis walked to Scylla’s side and placed her hand on her brother. Scylla finally let go of his anger, lowered his sword, and sighed. “Deal.”

Masha nodded, then looked at her warriors and gave a curt nod. The hooded assassins retreated into the darkness, leaving the four of them alone in the parking lot.

Alex still clung hard to his sword, in case these notorious assassins reneged on their deal.

“So?” asked Masha.

Scylla said, “We don’t know where the Cabal meets every time. But we do know that they have an emergency session tomorrow at The Reinsurance House on Lagos Island. The time is 7 P.M., and that’s all we know.”

Masha nodded. “That’s good enough. Now, I want the two of you out of the country by tomorrow night.”

Scylla and Charybdis flashed an angry smile, then turned, and began to walk away. Halfway across the parking lot, Scylla glance back at them and said, “Do us one favor, though. Kill all of them. That’s the least you can do.” Then they were gone.

Alex turned to Masha and said, “Why the heck would he make such a request?”

Masha was still looking down the parking lot, when she replied, “Because if word gets out that they spared you after signing a contract with the Cabal, they will be out of business.”

“So they want the only people who know about the contract dead,” Alex said. “So they can continue their terror reign. We should have killed them.”

This caused Masha to look at him. She looked at him for a long time before they kissed passionately. Unknown to Alex, Ola was just walking into the nightclub. She saw the two kissing. Heartbroken, she turned and ran out of the parking lot, crying. This would be the last time Ola would see Alex.

Masha and Alex took Alex’s car and drove straight for their hideout, where Lexie had good news for them.

* * *

There was a car waiting for them outside the parking lot. Scylla held the door open for his sister to enter, before entering into the vehicle after her. The driver was a Caucasian male, who went with them wherever they went. He was like their right-hand man.

“You plane is waiting for you,” said the man, not for once did he look in the rear-view mirror at the twins.

“Are we just going to leave this country like that?” asked Charybdis. “Shouldn’t we at least leave with some of our dignity?”

Scylla’s lips twitched. It always did that when he was furious. “We swore not to harm Alex, Sis. What are we if we don’t keep our word?”

“That wasn’t the only job we were paid for, Scylla,” Charybdis said. “The least we can do is kill the second person before skipping the country. At least if we don’t hurt Alex physically, we can hurt him emotionally and put an end to his silly little crusade.”

Scylla nodded, a milling tugging his lips apart. “That way, even though the Cabal would have been butchered by him, we would have held up our part of the bargain to stop Alex—his crusade would be ended.”

Charybdis was smiling also. Scylla glanced at the driver. “Take us the airport. We have one more person left to be killed before we can call it a day in this country.”

About an hour later, the twins boarded their private jet, which took them straight to Uyo. They drove straight to the Ibom library at exactly twelve midnight, when the Cabal told them the Librarian would be revealed. They broke into the Library and found their way to the secret chapel hid underground.

At the altar was an old man dressed in a gray suit and holding a book: La Biblio Skuptura.

“Are you here for the book?” asked the man, in a withered, weak voice. “Or are you here to kill me?” He had his back to them, looking at the statue of a woman holding a child.

“Both,” the twins said in unison. They aimed their automatic weapon and emptied their gun into the frail body. The Librarian was killed instantly. Scylla took the book outside and burned it at the feet of the Library. They watched as Alex’s crusade went up in flames in the cold Uyo air.

The Cabal had told them just how important the book was to Alex and his crusade. Without the book, Alex’s Nivenging days were over. So, maybe they had sworn never to come after Alex, they were sure going to come after all he held dear until their days on the earth was over.

Before dawn, before the news would carry the bizarre assassination of an old man in an unknown section of the great Ibom Library, the twins would already be in their plane headed for Qatar.

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Writing has always been my passion. When I was twelve, while my mates still flipped through picture books and comics, I took an interest in thick-sized, picture-less “story books” that opened me up to a whole new world of possibilities and adventures. However, I did not publish my first book until my second year in Pharmacy School when I’d usually learn about drugs in the day and write fiction in the night. I love writing because I relish the power it gives to create a world of my own where anything and everything is possible. I guess this explains my proclivity for the fantastical.